Jex Blackmore, national spokesperson for The Satanic Temple and Director of The Satanic Temple of Detroit, explains:

The action was intended to expose fetal idolatry and the perpetuation of fictional, coercive propaganda against the reproductive health organization. The Satanic Temple (TST) believes that the anti-choice movement’s obsession with, and mischaracterization of the fetus obscures medical reality and a woman’s constitutional right to choice. Enlarged images of fetuses which are no larger than an inch and the personalization of mindless, senseless human embryos elevates the fetus to the status of a demigod.

… The strategy of elevating tiny human em­br­yos and fetuses to a rever­ence creates a fantasy in which the maternal body is both erased and criminalized.

This is not the first time the Satanic Temple has engaged in guerrilla theater to counter-protest anti-abortion protesters. Last August The Satanic Temple of Detroit disrupted a national day of protest against Planned Parenthood by deploying a radical political theater to illustrate the theocratic agenda anti-abortion protesters want to impose upon female bodies.

At that protest members held an American flag emblazoned with The Satanic Temple’s logo, along with a sign reading:

America is not a theocracy. End forced motherhood!

It is important to note that The Satanic Temple does not worship a literal Satan, or even believe in Satan’s existence; instead, the group is dedicated to upholding the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom for all, while opposing the theocratic impulse of anti-abortion Christian conservatives.

Bottom line: The Satanic Temple deserves credit for naming the fetish of the fetus that animates the anti-abortion crowd, and pushing back against the false and coercive propaganda deployed against Planned Parenthood by conservative Christians.